...Err... I mean
Stir.
That's right, after
almost a
twelve months the 30+ year old landmark that was the Post Bar opened with alot of renovations and little fanfare. If it weren't for an email I received from my friend, John, I wouldn't have known anything. Last night, Friday, was the official opening and I decided to swing by there after work for a beer and to check out the changes.
Before I begin, you must remember what it was like for several years: a simple hole in the wall place with a pock-marked bar and exposed beams (and wiring), no heat and very little air conditioning, mice, and nearly everyone with their own assigned barstool. You can read a more descriptive post about the bar
here.So last night, I entered through the steel door and stepped into the main bar. Fresh paint, exposed brick, shiny new ductwork and a large rectangular bar all combined to give the room a nouveau-chic industrial loft kind of a look. A new flat-screen tv hung on the opposite wall from where I stood (waiting for a beer) and glass doors displayed the contents of an assortment of beers in the cooler under the concrete bartop.
The original Post consisted of three rooms: the main bar, the game room and the back bar/dancer lounge, all lined up like drunken soldiers taking up the entire first floor of the narrow building. Stir's owners kept the footprint of the main bar, but combined the two rear rooms making it one long narrow lounge, with the "middle" bar empty save for a couple of small padded conversation benches. It makes the room more open and airy, but the lower ceilings keeps a cozy and intimate feeling. Niches in the wall displaying bottles of olives and small oil paintings of martini glasses help to create a themed atmosphere of sophistication. Behind the new back bar (where the office was located in the original location) is a DJ booth which, according to the website, houses guest djs on a weekly basis.
Although the transformation is mind-boggling, what many of the Post regulars feared seems to have come true: it is not your bar any longer. Gone was any clue of the local watering hole that was home to many friends. Gone was the friendly atmosphere where everyone knew your name (and buisness). All this has been replaced with the stiff atmosphere and attitude of a new nightclub to compete with likes of any other upscale center city lounge, where it seemed as if you might actually be
offending the bartender by asking them to make a drink.
When I walked in and stepped up to the bar, there were two people behind the bar, one twink loading the beer cooler and a woman (I later came to realize was either the owner or manager). She was talking to someone across the bar, and not once turned around to take an inventory of the clientele. I stood quietly with a twenty dollar bill in my hand, directly in line of sight of the customer to whom she was conversing. The customer looked over her shoulder at me several times, but never once broke the conversation to allow the bartender to do her job. The twink also looked up at me, but continued to rearrange beer bottles in the cooler. Other people around the bar were deep in conversation and once, I caught the woman casually look around, but her eyes stopped about 1/4 of the way around the bar before she turned back to her conversation companion. Finally, after about 4 minutes, she turned her attention my way and asked if I wanted anything.
I ordered a beer, payed and stepped away from the bar to take in the rest of the new establishment. I spotted a couple of people at the back bar and walked down there to check things out. The female bartender working there I knew was one of the owners. I remembered her from a couple of times when she had been in the Post. With barely an acknowledgment my way, she turned to two females and started a conversation.
When I had finished the first beer, I'll give her some credit, she did ask in a timely fashion if I wanted another. I ordered and sat quietly on the barstool, watching as more patrons filtered in. It dawned on me that everyone who was coming in, male or female, were friends of the owners (or one more young bartender with an attitude). This got me thinking...
What kind of a businessman or woman will open up a new establishment of any kind and, on the first day open to the public, won't even give a patron a friendly or at least a warm greeting, thanking that person for coming or at least welcoming them to their new place? The website boasts a "friendly atmosphere", but the only friendliness I witnessed was to those who knew the owner(s) or bartenders. In fact, in that short time that I was there, I realized that I was probably the
only person who had walked in off the street. The only other friendly person who worked there was the bouncer, who remembered me from the days of the Post.
All in all it was a very unsettling experience. I walked out of there missing the Post and it's cold dampness and mice even more. Being in the customer service business for years, I was disappointed in the unwelcoming way I was treated. Stir has a sterile, but warm appearance and a sterile and cold attitude (unless you're in the know).
First impressions are hard to shake, but I will give this place the benefit of doubt. Chalk it up to opening night jitters, if you will. I'll probably go back and give it a 2nd shot, although it will never be my hangout as the Post was. I don't think it will be anyone's "hang-out". It's just not that type of a bar.
Besides, I know there are some of the old Post regulars who are most likely "in". As I am sure this review will eventually make it to the ears of the owners and that day will come when I walk in to hushed voices whispering things like "he's the one who wrote that scathing blog", in which case I'll be asked to leave. But it won't be a heart-wrenching moment.
But, in any event, I do wish success to the owners. It was a long time coming and the place is completely transformed for the better (except the 'tude).
